Heart Rate Training: Coming Back from Illness

Heart Rate Training: Coming Back from Illness

There may come a time in your life when you find yourself coming back from an illness and need heart rate training to get back in shape. Just because you are healthy does not mean you are invulnerable to illnesses or diseases. Heart rate training is essential whether you are healthy or coming back from a serious illness, which put you out of commission for some time. An illness, whether serious or not, is hard enough on your body without over exerting before you are ready. Everyone heals at a different rate so training for one might be much slower than for someone else.

Heart Rate Training

If you don’t already have one, you will need to purchase a heart rate monitor. If you cannot afford one, learn how to take your pulse so you can keep up with your heart rate. This is essential to keep within your ideal heart rate zone. Keeping your training within your ideal heart rate zone will speed progress toward your goal of coming back from an illness. If you are training with a group or with someone else who is trying to get back in shape after an illness, do not try to keep up with each other as this could cause a relapse.

Coming Back from Illness or Injury

Two things taken into account when performing heart rate training are your pre-illness level of fitness and the amount of time you were out of commission. Allowing your heart rate to determine your training intensity is the key to bouncing back from an illness in record time. One way to know if you are training at the correct pace is if you are able to have a conversation without gasping for breath. If you’re pre-illness condition was good and you are coming back from a cold or the flu, your body has already expended more energy than you think, and you may be weaker than you know.

If You Are New to Heart Rate Training

First, you need to take a base reading of your resting heart rate. This is done simply by taking your pulse with either a heart rate monitor or your fingers placed on your Carotid artery or underside of the wrist; this is essential to determine what your ideal heart rate should be while exercising. Once you determine what your ideal heart rate is, start your training slow taking your pulse several times during training. If you are thinking about using a cardio machine, look for one with a built in heart rate monitor. What you are trying to do is build strength and stamina; this should be done slowly so as not to cause unnecessary fatigue on your body, which may lead to a relapse of your illness.

The thing to remember is not to over extend your body’s ability too soon, as this will cause, in some cases, a relapse; even a strong, healthy heart will let you know when it has had enough.